Global blockchain consortium R3 has closed a huge funding round recently. The consortium said over 40 financial institutions participated in the $107 million round, including top member investors SBI Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC. Other investors include ING, Banco Bradesco, Itau Unibanco, Natixis, Barclays, UBS and Wells Fargo. The funds are expected to be deployed as part of plans for global technological development. The announced funding comprises only the first two tranches of a Series A round, which was opened primarily to firms who were among the R3’s initial members. A third tranche, planned for later this year, will be open to other members and entities outside the consortium, meaning the final amount of the Series A will likely be even larger. The round did include two strategic investors that are not members of R3: Intel and the private equity branch of Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings.
